State and Local

June 12, 2013 — Around two hundred seals were seen on a sandbar at Head of the Meadow Beach in North Truro on the morning of June 12, 2013. Watch the video from the Cape Cod Times at Youtube

June 13, 2013 — The crisis facing the Massachusetts and New Engand fishing industry wasn’t a focal point of the second debate between U.S. Senate hopefuls Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Edward Markey in Springfield Tuesday night, but the two men vying for the seat previously held by John Kerry staked out their fishery stands in the hours prior to the event.

In a question-and-answer session with the State House News Service, both candidates staked out claims to support the state’s fishermen, but from different angles.

“I stand with the Attorney General (Martha Coakley) for standing up for these fishermen and suing regulators in Washington who think they know or care more about the ocean than the fishermen who make their lives from it,” said Gomez, referring to Coakley’s lawsuit that aims to put a halt to new catch limit cuts that are crippling the industry.

“I’ve sat with the fishermen in New Bedford and Gloucester,” he said. “They described how their way of life is being threatened and drastic catch limits being imposed by NOAA will bankrupt a proud livelihood that has been a part of our coastal economy since before there was a Massachusetts.

“This program currently relies on flawed science and overreaching regulations that don’t account for the regional economic impact,” Gomez added. “Local fishermen don’t want welfare, they want to be allowed to work.”

Markey also acknowledged that “Massachusetts fishermen and their families are hurting right now.”

“I recently sat down with fishermen in Gloucester, and they told me how they need more help. I’ve heard that in New Bedford, on the Cape, and around the fishing communities of Massachusetts,” he said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

June 12, 2013 — A southern New Jersey fishing boat owner has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for his role in a botched scheme to sink the boat for insurance money.

Scott Tran of Cherry Hill was also ordered Wednesday to pay $280,000 in restitution.

The 40-year-old Tran was among four people who pleaded guilty to charges in the unsuccessful sinking of the Alexander II about 80 miles southeast of Cape May in 2009. Tran pleaded guilty to conspiracy to destroy a vessel on the high seas.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NorthJersey.com

 

June 11, 2013 — Massachusetts consumers may soon get reassurance that the fish they order in restaurants is actually what ends up on their plates.

A State House hearing on food safety Tuesday included discussion about a bill that would fine supermarkets and restaurants that mislabel certain seafood, and impose a ban the sale of escolar, an oily species that is often sold under a different name in sushi restaurants.

The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health hearing comes after more than two years of reporting by the Boston Globe that revealed widespread mislabeling of fish in area restaurants. Less expensive fish was routinely substituted for more desired and costly species. A year after the newspaper’s initial investigation, a follow-up report found most of the restaurants were still serving mislabeled fish.

“Consumers deserve to have full and accurate information where seafood comes from,’’ said Beckie Zisser, Ocean advocate for Oceana, a nonprofit group that has revealed widespread seafood fraud across the country. Zisser spoke at the hearing, which included a range of bills relating to food safety.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

 

June 8, 2013 — Rostron and fellow fisherman Clint Simek of Brielle were in Rostron's boat the TNT. The two were shark fishing 2½ hours east of Manasquan Inlet on Tuesday when the shark leaped out of the water and landed in the bow of their boat.

It then proceeded to eat through a broom stick, seat cushions, and the fiberglass decking before the two men were able to subdue it with a gaff and rope.

Three days after the brush with the shark, Rostron and Simek showed the broom stick – now in two pieces – and where the teeth gash marks, some as long as three inches, occurred in their boat. They also held onto the head of the shark, and intend to preserve the jawbone and teeth.

"It's missing a few teeth," said Simek. "We found one in the boat that was an inch and a half long."

Rostron said the damage to his boat, which he docks at the Glimmer Glass in Manasquan, will cost $5,000 for a professional to fix.

"I would like to leave the teeth marks in, like a badge of honor," he said. "But the floor marks have to be fixed or water will leak through. They have to be filled and fiberglass has to be re-applied."

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press

 

June 8, 2013 — Three initiatives now included within the fiscal 2014 state budget hold hope for a Massachusetts fishing industry under increasing duress due to landing cuts imposed by NOAA based on controversial scientific fish stock assessments and the agency’s interpretation of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act.

The budgeted projects, announced Friday by the Gloucester delegation of state Sen. Bruce Tarr and Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, are:

The Gloucester Genomics Initiative, an effort to identify and sequence the genetic code of groundfish such as cod, allowing scientists to determine among other mysteries whether the inshore (Gulf of Maine) and offshore (Georges Bank) fish are one or separate stocks;

Experimentation in the use of sonar technology to provide real time supplemental data on the size and location of stocks in the Northwest Atlantic to be organized at the University of Massachusetts, primarily at its campus in Dartmouth, adjacent to New Bedford.

The development of plans for the recovery and survival of Gloucester, New Bedford and secondary ports that have been weakened by the radical reduction in landings ordered by the federal government.

Funding for the genome and sonar initiatives in different amounts was approved by the House and Senate versions of the budget, and await reconciliation by the Joint Conference Committee, the Gloucester lawmakers said in a briefing paper.

“We can’t stand idle in the face of the regulatory disaster that is unfolding in front of us and jeopardizing the survival of fishing ports like Gloucester, New Bedford, and those on the South Shore and Cape Cod,” Tarr, the Senate Republican minority leader. “While our state budget is only a fraction of federal spending, we are working to make a significant investment in the programs and research needed to defend the fishing industry.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

June 3, 2013 — Despite the economic data supporting the designation of speckled trout, red drum and estuarine striped bass as gamefish, House Bill 983 was recently shelved by North Carolina lawmakers.

Read the story here

 

 

June 7, 2013 — The lawsuit filed last week by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to block new regulations that threaten the fishing industry may benefit local fishermen in the long run, but probably would help them now.

“We just don’t have the luxury of time,” said Scituate fisherman Frank Mirarchi. “This will take years and those of us struggling now won’t be around to reap whatever benefits there might be.”

Mirarchi called the suit “an unfortunate and desperate last move,” but added that it was necessary to bring the plight of fishermen to light.

“They just don’t get it,” he said of those setting the regulations. “We can’t survive like this.”

State Rep. Jim Cantwell, D-Marshfield, called it “a sad day for our storied fishing industry and its proud tradition.

“Though I greatly appreciate the suit taken by Attorney General Coakley, I am concerned that this justified legal challenge will not be able to bring change in federal fisheries management in time to better manage our fish population while saving thousands of jobs in New England,” Cantwell said.

Read the full story at the Scituate Mariner

 

 

June 7, 2013 — The following was released by the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival:

New Bedford, MA – – In September 2013, the Working Waterfront Festival will mark its’ tenth anniversary. To celebrate, we are presenting Portholes, a series of free, monthly programs designed to engage residents and members of the commercial fishing industry in conversations about critical issues facing the working waterfront. Each month’s programming centers around a theme. Programming during the month of June considers the importance of preserving the working waterfront. Partial funding for the Portholes Project is provided by Mass Humanities. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the sponsor of our June programs.

Thursday, June 13 (AHA NIGHT)
Dock Walk, Whaling Museum Plaza 7:00 PM, FREE
Learn about the shoreside businesses, workboats, and historic landmarks that are part of our port.  The 45 minute tour will depart from the Whaling Museum Plaza.

Talk: New Bedford: A Designated Port
Whaling Museum Theater 8:00 PM, FREE
Find out how and why New Bedford became a “designated port”, what that means, and what lies in store for our working waterfront in the years to come.  Fishing industry veterans, John Linehan and Rodney Avila, and Port Director, Jeffery Stieb will share perspectives on the past, present, and future of the port.

Friday June 21 – Film Screening: No Pretty Prayer, National Park Theater, 7:00 PM, FREE
No Pretty Prayer explores the gritty character of an old seaside neighborhood in the oldest seaport in America. Known locally as the Fort, the enclave has long served as the working heart of Gloucester, Massachusetts' marine industrial economy and as home to the city's Sicilian community. The film examines how this mix of industry and culture has fused the character of this place and its people over the past one hundred years. With the threat of neighborhood gentrification as a haunting backdrop, the film invites viewers to contemplate what it means to sustain cherished roots to a humble place that the broader world threatens to erase and forget in time.  Film maker, Sal Zerilli, and long time Gloucester resident, Jimmy Tarantino, will lead a discussion following the screening.

The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England’s commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen’s contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid’s activities and more. It all takes place in New Bedford, MA, America’s #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend of September. Navigate to us at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Orleans, Director 508-993-8894, info@workingwaterfrontfestival.org

 

 

May 30, 2013 — In this edition of WCVB-TV’s Chronicle, Channel 5 Boston explores fish farms along New England’s coast and meets two individuals with a passion for healthy and sustainable farm-raised seafood.

Hundreds of fish farms line New England’s coast, mostly producing shellfish and some salmon. Finding food sources for farm-raised fish that do not produce high levels of toxins has been a challenge, and raising species such as cod has proven to be commercially inviable. This is why Josh Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Australis, a fish farm in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, looked at 50 different species of fish before settling on the perfect candidate for aquaculture.

The species that Goldman selected was barramundi, an Australian sea bass, which he raises in a 2-acre indoor facility. Barramundi mature in only 9 months and reproduce on a lunar cycle. This means that barramundi spawn 12 times a year, as opposed to other species, which spawn only once.

The Australis aquaculture facility contains 40 tanks, which filter and reuse 60 million gallons of water daily. This facility, combined with the viability of the species, will allow Goldman to harvest well over 1 million fish per year, all of which will be raised sustainably and in an environment that is free of mercury and other harmful contaminants.

WCVB-TV also interviewed Peter Howard, co-owner of Sky 8 Shrimp Farm in Stoughton, Massachusetts, who, is working to deliver healthy, farm-raised seafood to the public. Howard has already raised between 15 and 20 thousand Pacific tropical shrimp and he has done it without the help of dangerous additives like antibiotics and growth hormones. Once they acquire additional tanks, Sky 8 Shrimp Farm plans to produce 60 thousand shrimp per month.

These farm-raised Pacific tropical shrimp and Australis’s barramundi are already making their way to chefs like Toby Hill, owner of Lyric Restaurant in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, who are always on the lookout for locally sourced fish that are not only fresh, healthy, and sustainably raised, but delicious as well.

Watch the video from WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston